Malaysia & Fusion Food
by Sabrina Razak
Fusion food it is not so foreign to be
heard in Malaysia, but there are still a few who do not understand this term.
Fusion food is a type of cuisine that combines different culinary cultures or
traditions that originally come from different cultures, regions or
countries. Have you ever wonder why our
country tourism slogan is Malaysia Truly Asia? Malaysia has diversity in terms
of race, culture, and natural ecosystem. As we all know that in Malaysia consists
of 80 ethnic groups, where ethnic Malays, Chinese and Indians are the largest
ethnic group. With the diversity that exists, of course there are clashes of
culture, and customs in terms of foods happen. This does not yet include
foreign cultures that enter this country such as from western countries as well
as Asia.
What causes fusion food to occur? In the
author's view, the real factor of fusion food occurs is to adapt to the tastes
of the local community. Like the world famous fast food restaurant, McDonald's
opened in Malaysia provides nasi lemak dish even though it is not in line with
its branches located in other countries. In addition, this is also related to
the supply of raw materials that are difficult to find in certain place. This
is an unavoidable factor for some restaurants that provide food that is
different from local food. Raw materials such as spices in Arabic cuisine and
certain types of fish in sushi or sashimi that are a bit hard to find in
Malaysia. Finally, fusion food creates a difference taste in cooking. This life
is not beautiful if it is not coloured, as for the food, sometimes it is also
interesting when combined other dishes from various culture into a plate that
can create a harmony and delicious food.
In Malaysia, fusion food is one of the
menus that is easy to get coverage on social media. This shows that most people
of this country are open to the uniqueness of food. For your information,
fusion food has long been established in this country. Among the fusion foods
that Malaysians love until now is Pau also known as baozi, bao, or bau. What is
so special about Malaysia’s Pau?
This Chinese food is not something strange anymore in the eyes of Malaysian, Pau originally had a sweet or savoury fillings such as red bean, and pork. In this unique country, the fillings of pau has been change to suit the tastes of the local community and meet Shariah law, such as chicken or beef rendang, curry, and barbeque. To meet the demand of the local Muslim community, the Pau business has been cultivated by the Malay Muslim traders. Including a business run by two local young Malaysian who took over the business of their father's pau, called Pau Pak Ngah. A few months ago, Pau Pak Ngah went viral on social media because of its size, uniqueness and taste that are hard to find. Pau Pak Ngah has given a very different twist to the existing pau, such as some of the menus they offer named Pau Cheesy Bolognese and Pau Mushroom Cabonara. They also promise a pau that is full of fillings, a soft and fluffy bun texture, as well as a very tasty taste.
Moreover, sushi is a Japanese traditional food dishes that have become a common choice for many locals. Sushi usually have rice, topped or wrapped with filling and lastly will be wrapped with seaweed. The original sushi does not have fillings with strong flavour, they usually wrapped or topped with tamogayaki (Japanese egg rolled), salmon roe (salmon’s egg), cucumber, crab sticks, prawn tempura and many more. Then, the sushi will be eaten by dipping it in sweet soy sauce, salted soy sauce or wasabi. So contra with the fusion made by a Malaysian, where this dish is combined with filling that has a spicy, sour, and sweet taste such as rendang, serunding (chicken or beef floss) and satay that can be eaten with kuah kacang (spicy peanut gravy). Sushika has gave a new image for sushi in Malaysia, in which the filling is very suitable for consumers who new to the Japanese food, this is because there are some uncooked fillings such as salmon sushi which is quite difficult to accept by these consumers. Therefore, it prompt with the purpose of the existence of the menu innovated by Sushika where the recipes produced are suitable for local tastes and also Sushika targets consumers who do not like to eat raw Sushi or doubt its halal status.
In many types of laksa, which laksa has
two identities? Laksa Johor! This is because, laksa Johor is eaten with
spaghetti and the broth is based on fish fillets sauteed with curry spices. Spaghetti
Italian food which is then combined with gravy Malay cuisine, which is why the
dish have two identity. This dish of the pride of the people of Johor is very
different from the laksa found in northern Malaysia and in Sarawak. Interesting
isn't it? Common dishes cooked using pasta are like spaghetti Bolognese,
fettucine Alfredo, or penne pesto but if in Malaysia there are some recipe
changes that occur. The most noticeable change was the spiciness, as most
Malaysian love spicy food. The soft and chewy pasta texture almost resembles
yellow noodles has given Malaysian a new idea to cook pasta. In this country,
pasta can also be cooked as like fried noodle, common recipes can be found are
fried spaghetti and fried macaroni. This fusion food, have spicy, sweet and
sour flavours that combined harmoniously.
Food is one of the symbols for a race
and country. A quote by Mark Kurlansky, 'Choice Cuts' (2002) once said “Food is
a central activity of mankind and one of the single most significant trademarks
of a culture.” Some have suggested that the arrival of a food combination will
damage the identity of the food which may also damage the identity of the
country and the nation. For the writer, identity is closely related to ourselves,
if we are educated, given exposure and practiced properly, surely nothing can
shake our identity. Similarly, from the
point of view of culture and food, as long as we are given exposure to
traditional food, fusion food is not the reason it is forgotten through times.
In fact, in Malaysian daily food there
are many dishes that have been combined or modified, without realizing it is
also known as fusion food. That is the pleasure of living in a multi-racial
country, food is also influenced by religion, race and state. Thus, the slogan
‘Malaysia, Truly Asia’ is not just a myth. Its fun when we can share different
recipes and dishes with each other, although come from different culinary
background, we can still exchange flavours sometime, right? With the Movement
Control Order (MCO) 2.0, many people will run out of ideas for what to cook. Why
not, take this leisure time to try a very simple fusion food made by the
author, Fried Curry Pasta. Please stay safe, stay healthy and try the recipe.
Recipe Fried Curry Pasta
400 g Penne pasta
100 g mince beef / chicken
150 g chicken fillet (rough cut)
1 bulb onion
4 cloves garlic
1 inch ginger
2 cup mixed vegetable
2 tbs curry powder
3 tbs tomato sauce / tomato paste
2 tbs chilli sauce
1 ½ tsp oregano
½ cup Oil
1 cup pasta water
Salt (to taste)
Method:
1.
Boil
the penne pasta until el-dente, and season with some salt. Then, strain the
pasta but left 1 cup of the pasta water and drizzle with some oil to avoid the
pasta from stick together ( you may use palm cooking oil or olive oil)
2.
Heat
up the oil and sauté the chopped onion, garlic and ginger until the onion cook
or until it change a bit transparent.
3. Add
the mince beef or chicken, cooked thoroughly. Then, add the chicken fillet that
cut roughly.
4.
Add
the curry powder that had been mixed with a bit of water. Sauté and mix the
ingredients well.
5.
Add
the pasta water, tomato sauce or paste, chilli sauce, and a bit salt. Mix it
well and let it boil until the mixture become moist instead of liquidity.
6.
Add
mixed vegie and the pasta. Mix them well and lastly add the oregano before mix
it once again. The Fried Curry Pasta ready to be serve
